Wrong Choice Made: ADVICE NEEDED

[Lex Icon]

I feel like I made the wrong choice in selecting some of my courses. What would be the best thing to do, since it is past drop date?

 

[wadswort]

You need to sack up and get through it. High finance is fiercely competitive. If you're too soft to handle the academics, you won't be able to hack it on the trading desk.

My advice: get some fire inside ya.

 

[dmv]

well, first of all - dont panic. secondly, math fin is not equal to wall street. you can find a lot of opportunities on consulting companies, fin. software companies (T. Reuters, Bloomberg, etc), financial advisory and so on (including banking). So keep study. If some topics are too difficult for you - make a conclusion and adjust your career (industry) targets. About solutions and answers - the only thing you can do is just to study hard. Do not be in a hurry just read and read again, try to understand the concept, solve as many problems as you can.

 

[Lex Icon]

I definitely understand the concepts. I don't know if there is any way to convey that to you more clearly. However, many of my classmates, including some PhDs in math (like they already have their PhD, but don't want to stay in academia), say there is a disconnect between whats taught and whats assigned for homework. I just feel I should be doing better than I have. I don't rush through the material. I understand concepts, go through derivations. I actually like and am interested in this stuff. One thing I will agree is I wish I could solve more problems, like I should get a textbook that has problems and answers, as that would reinforce concepts learned. That's what got me into this program.

 

[bigbadwolf]

I definitely understand the concepts. I don't know if there is any way to convey that to you more clearly. However, many of my classmates, including some PhDs in math (like they already have their PhD, but don't want to stay in academia), say there is a disconnect between whats taught and whats assigned for homework.

There are some shitty programs out there where there's a disconnect between what's taught and what's assigned as homework (or turns up in exams).

One thing I will agree is I wish I could solve more problems, like I should get a textbook that has problems and answers, as that would reinforce concepts learned. That's what got me into this program.

In what areas are you having problems? Zoom in on what specifically is giving you a problem. Probability? Stochastic? Numerical methods? There are specific books in each of these areas that can be useful.

 

[Shantanu Kumar]

I would say don't get discouraged, particularly in courses which are completely new and very theorem/proof intensive.
Its a good thing trying to solve problems from certain books for certain specific topic. Also try to go through many solved examples. That helps a lot in tackling newer problems. I remember the first maths class in Real Analysis at university where you are introduced with all kind of epsilon/delta stuff. Many people used to struggle as it was something completely new for everyone at the university. In general I would say Maths isn't an easy subject and unless you are some math prodigy you will struggle with newer concepts. Trick is to practice!

 

[Mark N]

There are some shitty programs out there where there's a disconnect between what's taught and what's assigned as homework (or turns up in exams).



In what areas are you having problems? Zoom in on what specifically is giving you a problem. Probability? Stochastic? Numerical methods? There are specific books in each of these areas that can be useful.

What books do you recommend for probability? I'm taking a proof/theorum intensive probability class and am having some trouble with it.

 

[bigbadwolf]

What books do you recommend for probability? I'm taking a proof/theorum intensive probability class and am having some trouble with it.

Measure-theoretic?

 

[Jose T]

Mark N - I have not used these books extensively myself (though I own them), but I think they are meant to be relatively gentler advanced probability books:

http://www.amazon.com/First-Look-Rigorous-Probability-Theory/dp/9812703713
http://www.amazon.com/Second-Course-Probability-Sheldon-Ross/dp/0979570409

Lex Icon - From the way you phrased your question, my guess is that you are in my program. Feel free to contact me directly if you'd like to talk.

Around this time last year, I was failing two of the first semester courses (one of them being Math Finance I). A couple of classmates with more quantitative backgrounds than I dropped out or transferred.

Everything worked out fine for me with the two Fall classes ; I got B's (after a lot of work) and my overall GPA is fairly respectable.

For RU MSMF, in the two classes I was doing badly, the teachers were actually really good and what they did in class (proofs and derivations) was what we did on hw and tests (proofs and derivations). This is less the case in the applied classes where class-time is more for industry concepts, hws are for software work and exams depend on the instructor.

Talk to your teachers about sources of more basic / conceptual problems you can do before tackling the homework. They should be able to help you. Here are some more basic / conceptual books I have used for practice:

http://www.amazon.com/Numerical-Rec...=1350485500&sr=1-1&keywords=numerical+recipes
(You probably won't need the code for your class, but the exposition in this book is succinct and readable)

http://www.amazon.com/First-Course-...sr=1-1&keywords=a+first+course+in+probability

http://www.amazon.com/Probability-S...tatistics+for+engineers+and+scientists+devore

http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Engi...keywords=advanced+calculus+for+engineers+zill

http://www.amazon.com/Brownian-Moti...5787&sr=1-1&keywords=brownian+motion+calculus